Will they trade? Who to trade? Who to buy? Can they trade? | Terrence Davis has FVV status | Power Rankings are in, and Raptors are on fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZKYDEeaD8&feature=youtu.be&t=160
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLFUmrvSc98
NBA Coaches of the Month for January.
East: Nick Nurse (@Raptors)
West: Taylor Jenkins (@memgrizz) pic.twitter.com/mynnk6myGh— NBA (@NBA) February 3, 2020
Congratulations to Nick Nurse on being named Eastern Conference COACH OF THE MONTH!#WeTheNorth | @Raptors pic.twitter.com/0zhTklHEhF
— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) February 3, 2020
After 739 games with only 491 left to play:
Bucks still have the #1 defense by a wide margin. Maybe they'll come down to the 104 D-Rating mark. Then again, maybe not.
Raptors through 50 games last year: 36-14, +5.0 net
Raptors through 50 games this year: 36-14, +6.7 net pic.twitter.com/vEwRXsMIPQ
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) February 3, 2020
even with a broken hand Norm still finds the time to sign pic.twitter.com/nIwTcdOzZt
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) February 3, 2020
Eighth man
I know. Terence Davis II is really good. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Chris Boucher have played their roles very well. Patrick McCaw has a big fan in Nick Nurse.It seems a little odd to have four players who could comfortably qualify as an eighth man and suggest that’s an area the team could improve. At the same time, none of those players is a lock to even see rotation minutes game-to-game if the team is moderately healthy, and that would be especially true in a playoff series, where each option has some weaknesses opponents would attack. That’s not unique to Toronto; few teams can roll out a full rotation without soft spots to game plan against. Having matchup options is better than no options at all, and it doesn’t feel like the Raptors would have to shrink their playoff rotation to seven again.
Still, one more player who would unquestionably play each night in the playoffs would offer some stability. Those players are going to be costly, though, and Powell’s injury complicates things. A deal for Robert Covington makes a lot of sense in terms of fit but is tough to make work without Powell (or a wealth of picks). Returns from solid-shooting and elite defence don’t diminish very quickly, and a player of Covington’s ilk could cover Powell’s absence and insulate against regression. (Powell’s defence has also been middling. He’s been great offensively, but if he cools off post-injury, we’d be back to having the early-season conversations about trying to upgrade his position.)
Similar logic follows for Bogdan Bogdanovic, who brings other complications (restricted-free-agent status, the Kings being the Kings). An Evan Fournier-type might be worth calling on. It was hard to check all of the boxes on a trade in that range, and it feels much, much tougher in the aftermath of even more injuries.
The more realistic scenario might see the Raptors focus on shoring up weaknesses through depth additions, even though their depth is in pretty good shape.
NBA trade talk and what might happen before the deadline – ESPN
The Raptors have three players on big expiring contracts, though all three — Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, and Fred VanVleet — are key rotation pieces. Norman Powell’s $11.6 million player option for 2021-22 might muck up Toronto’s books for the critical summer of 2021, but he was playing the best ball of his career until injuring his finger over the weekend.
Holiday would be a dynamite fit. It’s hard to see how the Raptors get him without dealing OG Anunoby, and though Masai Ujiri has pushed chips in on previous deadlines — 2017 and last season — he has never included a young player on Anunoby’s level.
Still, what an incredible story these Raptors are: 11 straight wins, on pace to exceed last season’s win total. Four months ago, rivals wondered how far Toronto would have to fall — No. 5 in the East? No. 6? — for Ujiri to contemplate a selloff. Now those rivals are fretting about a potential win-now move involving one of those above players and a future first-round pick. (Toronto owns all its firsts.)
Logic dictates the Raptors would prefer to trade this season’s pick; they know it will land toward the end of the first round. They required zero draft picks of any kind to find VanVleet, Chris Boucher, and Terence Davis; you think they are afraid to give up the 25th pick if it means making an honest run at a second straight Finals?
Of course, suitors would prefer a pick down the line with more upside.
The Raptors can be the NBA trade deadline’s scariest buyer – SBNation.com
If the Raptors think the Bucks are vulnerable in the postseason, team president Masai Ujiri could put together a package of young players to try to bolster the roster for the stretch run. One name jumps out more than any other: New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday.
The 29-year-old Holiday would be a fascinating fit. The 6’4 guard can play on- or off-the-ball and has long been known as one of the league’s better two-way players. He could slot in next to Kyle Lowry in the backcourt and give the team two tough, veteran guards who can create their own shot, facilitate, and knock down an open jumper on offense while maintaining what is currently the league’s No. 2 overall defense.
A trade that would send Ibaka and OG Anunoby to New Orleans for Holiday checks out:
There aren’t many other paths to a Holiday deal for Toronto. The Raptors could try to tie in a third team in the trade and send out Norman Powell instead of Anunoby, with Ibaka going to a different location. While it sounds good in theory, it’s going to be difficult. Adding in their first round pick with Anunoby is likely the only way to get New Orleans to bite for Holiday.
The Raptors didn’t need a first round pick to find VanVleet or Davis. It feels like Toronto would be willing to part with their pick for a proven rotation piece on the wing or in the backcourt, but their options for matching incoming salaries are limited. This essentially comes down to whether they want to add Anunoby to a deal.
It would be a heavy, heavy price to pay and leave the Raptors without a a big, defensive-oriented wing in the playoffs. Perhaps Davis could fill that role, or Holiday could slide up a position. While Toronto likely wants to do whatever it can to hold onto Anunoby, Holiday is the type of player that could get them to commit to the deal.
The notion that the Raptors might actively look to sell any of their three key veterans — Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol — in a future-minded deal is essentially dead. The Raptors are too good for that. They are so good, even if the recent winning streak overstates things because of their low quality of competition, that they could look to upgrade their team for another run at the Finals this year, potentially giving up draft picks or even a young contributor like OG Anunoby to make that happen.
Instead, here is what they should do: not a damn thing. Let the league try to pry the championship out of the Raptors’ cold, dead hands. They have earned that.
The case is not just an emotional one. There are practical reasons for the Raptors to stand pat, too.
The job of the Raptors front office — Masai Ujiri, Bobby Webster and the rest — is to set out a path for this team and meticulously go about trying to make walking that path as easy as possible. Like every front office in the league, though, the Raptors have to consider the needs of the present and the future simultaneously. The Raptors want to have as much flexibility as possible in 2021, when Giannis Antetokounmpo and a host of other stars can or will become free agents. Yet, the Raptors are good enough to try to win a title this year, which would suggest extra incentive to acquire win-now pieces, even if it costs you some of that flexibility or future assets. It is exceedingly difficult to walk both paths at the same time, especially when the past must be at least considered, which I am advocating here.
Here is the current reality: There are two teams in the Western Conference, Golden State and Minnesota, who will definitely act as sellers. Sacramento and New Orleans could join that group. In the Eastern Conference, there are more teams without a realistic shot at the playoffs, but by virtue of being bad teams in the East, they lack players worth giving up valuable assets for. Beyond that, even if Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Lakers are the three heavy favourites to win the title, there are at least a half-dozen other teams, including the Raptors, which would strongly argue that point. This will be a market that favours sellers, not buyers.
With the exception of Anunoby, the seven top players in the Raptors’ rotation have ranged from very good to great in their roles. Two of them, Norman Powell and Marc Gasol, are injured right now, but you do not want to overreact to injuries that might not even linger into March. Added depth is nice, and the Raptors should explore low-cost avenues to acquiring that, but players such as Terence Davis, Chris Boucher and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson have proven to be more than capable as fill-ins. They are not playoff proven, but how much do you want to give up for a little playoff experience that might not even be necessary? (Also, do you want to bet against the irrepressible Davis figuring things out in real time on a bigger stage?)
Toronto Raptors unlikely to make big move ahead of trade deadline – TSN.ca
It would be a surprise to see Ujiri break up that top seven, not just because of how well they’ve played through adversity, but also because nobody is quite sure how good they can be when and if everybody is healthy. Like the rest of us, Ujiri wants to find out.
“I know these guys and they’re going to die trying [to win],” Ujiri said a couple weeks ago. “You see them, you see the attitude. I know nobody, not one person would tell me that they thought we would be competing now to be second in the East. There’s not one person that thought that, with a championship player like Kawhi leaving. These guys have stepped up and we appreciate what they’ve done.
“We evaluate our team every day. We’re proud of what they’re doing. They keep plugging away… We’ll see. For us, in our minds, the ability to compete and how to compete, these guys know how to compete. We’ll continue to see how they evolve. We’re confident with these guys.”
It’s safe to say the Raptors aren’t interested in selling off their veteran players. If they do move any of their top seven it will have to be for a clear upgrade and for a player they didn’t think would be available or expect to be able to get.
More likely, they could look to package a couple of their other players, maybe with a first or second-round pick, to add some depth or insurance at a position of need. They could use a third point guard, just in case anything were to happen to Lowry or VanVleet, or perhaps another big, especially with Gasol nursing a lingering hamstring ailment.
Who could they get? Temper your expectations, based on what they would likely be offering – expendable role players like Patrick McCaw, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, or Stanley Johnson.
Powell, who is having a career season, may have been an interesting trade chip but his market value has taken a hit after fracturing his finger. He should miss at least a month, meaning he’s probably worth more to the Raptors than he would be for a team acquiring him.
Maybe the Raptors feel more compelled to make a smaller, depth move on account of his injury, but they’re not likely to give up real assets – players or picks – for a short-term stopgap. If they were to give up value the return would have to move the needle, even when they’re at full strength.
The Raptors are a fascinating option in the Capela sweepstakes.
Though they already have to starting level centres in Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, it remains to be seen if the two of them are still on the team beyond this season because they’re both going to be unrestricted free agents in the offseason.
If the Raptors are willing to part ways with even one of them at the trade deadline, Capela becomes a possibility.
While Capela is neither the passer Gasol is nor the scorer Ibaka is, he still has the potential to fit in well with Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam as an elite finisher in the paint and a versatile defender. He wouldn’t step on anyone’s toes either, as his usage rate this season (15.9 percent) is significantly lower than Ibaka’s (24.4 percent) and only slightly higher than Gasol’s (12.7 percent).
What would be particularly appealing to the Raptors about Capela is his contract. Whereas Gasol and Ibaka are both making around $25 million this season, Capela is making only $16.5 million. He’ll then make $17.5 million in 2020-21, $18.5 million in 2021-22 and $19.6 million in 2022-23.
That would eat into their cap space for 2021 when the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Oladipo and Jrue Holiday are set to be free agents, but trading for Capela would give them their centre of the future on a team-friendly contract.
The draw for the Rockets is that they’d be able to get a centre in return for Capela and potentially a wing. The fact that Gasol and Ibaka are both making around $10 million more than Capela this season makes it difficult to match salaries because multiple players would have to be involved, but it’s not impossible to come up with a deal that benefits both sides.
Raptors’ Davis has the perfect rookie attitude | Toronto Sun
Inside the locker room he is well taken care of with vets aplenty surrounding him from the older types like Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka to the younger vets like Fred VanVleet and Norm Powell. On the team charter, he sits beside Ibaka, a no-nonsense (well, when it comes to the game anyway) worker with an unwavering commitment to the process.
That has rubbed off on Davis.
Nurse joked about an exchange getting off he plane he and his rookie guard shared recently.
“I got off the plane two days ago and I said to him ‘Don’t got to the gym tomorrow, Terence.’ He said, ‘I’m going coach, I gotta go.’
Nurse wanted his rookie to rest, but the rookie has had Ibaka in his ear all season telling him of the importance of staying consistent, staying locked in and for Ibaka, and now Davis, that means even off days are days he needs to be in a gym further locking in those muscle memories.
Davis isn’t the first young player to come under Ibaka’s mentorship. There have been others before him, but it’s clear Davis has found his way in like few before have with Ibaka.
The 11-year veteran makes it clear the relationship only works for him if the one looking for guidance actually wants to learn and Davis has shown him nothing but a willingness and a want to do that.
“Yeah, as a vet you always look to do that, but the difference is some young fellas they don’t really take to it,” Ibaka said after watching Davis go off for a career best 31 points in Sunday’s win over Chicago. “They don’t really listen. So you have to give a lot of credit to him for listening to me and wanting to do it. He’s always looking to get better. He’s always asking me, on me, ‘Tell me what I should do here.’ That motivates me to want to help him more.”
Davis has had the path of the undrafted Fred VanVleet to follow and now the guidance of an 11-year vet in Ibaka. This past summer he could have signed with any number of teams. Looking back now and with the teammates around him cheering on his every move, Davis is thrilled with his choice of Toronto.
Terence Davis’ success proof Raptors should stand pat at trade deadline – Sportsnet.ca
Chemistry can be a difficult thing to define, but this Raptors team seems to have it, giving even more credence to the case that the best course of action for the Raptors at the trade deadline is to stand pat.
And looking back at Sunday’s 129-102 drubbing of the Bulls, you can see a microcosm of why this Raptors group as it’s currently constructed deserves a shot to see what they can do in the post-season.
Obviously, Davis’s career performance was a huge positive. He not only scored 31, but he was remarkably efficient, too, going 12-for-15 from the field and 6-for-7 from deep. What was even more impressive than just the productivity, though, was the circumstances he did it under.
Sunday was the first game the Raptors played since it was announced that Norman Powell suffered a fracture to the ring finger of his left hand and it was Davis who Toronto coach Nick Nurse turned to in order to find a replacement for productivity the team was likely going to miss without Powell.
Davis certainly answered the bell Sunday, and maybe also made a few assistant coaches from around the NBA a little red in the face while he was at it, too.
“It definitely was in the back of my mind for sure,” said Davis on if he was motivated by the apparent Rising Stars snub. “Throughout the course of the season it will be in the back of my mind.”
Based off Sunday’s performance, a motivated Davis seems like good news for the Raptors moving forward, including when Powell and the rest of the team return to full health.
It’s because of the players on this Raptors team right now during Davis’s rookie campaign that he’s able to have games like he had on Sunday.
“Our veteran guys, guys that have been around here really understand, I think, the working day,” said Nurse. “[Davis has] joined right in, he’s right there. He’s a hard worker, he’s in the gym and he’s going to work.”
The success of the Ibaka-Davis connection has a deeper meaning for the Raptors | The Star
While Capela is neither the passer Gasol is nor the scorer Ibaka is, he still has the potential to fit in well with Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam as an elite finisher in the paint and a versatile defender. He wouldn’t step on anyone’s toes either, as his usage rate this season (15.9 percent) is significantly lower than Ibaka’s (24.4 percent) and only slightly higher than Gasol’s (12.7 percent).
What would be particularly appealing to the Raptors about Capela is his contract. Whereas Gasol and Ibaka are both making around $25 million this season, Capela is making only $16.5 million. He’ll then make $17.5 million in 2020-21, $18.5 million in 2021-22 and $19.6 million in 2022-23.
That would eat into their cap space for 2021 when the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Oladipo and Jrue Holiday are set to be free agents, but trading for Capela would give them their centre of the future on a team-friendly contract.
The draw for the Rockets is that they’d be able to get a centre in return for Capela and potentially a wing. The fact that Gasol and Ibaka are both making around $10 million more than Capela this season makes it difficult to match salaries because multiple players would have to be involved, but it’s not impossible to come up with a deal that benefits both sides.
Surprise, surprise.
Terence Davis, undrafted rookie, already putting stamp on Raptors – NBC Sports
After finishing summer league with the Raptors, Davis joined Toronto players to work out in Los Angeles. According to Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, Davis was quite brash during pickup games. On one hand, VanVleet found it a little naïve and tried to put the youngster in his place. On the other hand, VanVleet – whose path to the NBA as undrafted player was similar to Davis’ – appreciated the confidence.
Now, VanVleet just watches and laughs when his teammate gets going.
“He’s talking to refs, and he’s talking trash to other players,” VanVleet said. “You would think he’s been around 15 years.”
Davis just looks like he belongs.
He’s already a rotation player on one of the NBA’s top teams. His 7.7 points per game are modest, but his contributions are often more subtle. Davis leads all rookies in real plus-minus (+4.32).
Davis isn’t as good as, say, Ja Morant. But this shows how well Davis fills his role.
At 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, Davis has the athleticism for practically any matchup. He’s a dogged defender and confident shooter. He’s making 42% of his 3-pointers on a high enough volume to spread the floor.
Davis could join a rare group of undrafted All-Rookie teamers: Yogi Ferrell, Langston Galloway, Gary Neal, Jamario Moon, Walter Herrmann, Jorge Garbajosa, Marquis Daniels, Udonis Haslem, J.R. Bremer, Chucky Atkins, Matt Maloney and Larry Stewart. Only Ferrell, Galloway, Daniels, Bremer, Stewart did it in their first professional season.
Yet, Davis got bypassed for Rising Stars.
Davis didn’t make a big stink. He brushed it off as just “another time that I don’t get selected for something.” Then, he scored 31 points in Toronto’s win over the Bulls yesterday.
What if Davis were producing like this but had the stature that comes with getting drafted?
“I would be in that Rising Stars game, no doubt,” Davis said. “No doubt. ”
He’s happy with his path, though.
This week 5
Last week:8
Toronto Raptors
Record: 36-14
Pace: 100.6 (15) OffRtg: 111.0 (13) DefRtg: 104.3 (2) NetRtg: +6.7 (4)The Raptors’ 11-game winning streak is the second longest in the league this season, is tied for the longest in franchise history, and has Nick Nurse going to the All-Star Game. The Toronto offense ranks second (behind Damian Lillard) over the course of the streak and had its second most efficient performance of the season (129 points on just 97 possessions) against Chicago’s 10th-ranked defense on Sunday.
The champs can’t seem to stay healthy. Marc Gasol is dealing with a hamstring issue again and Norman Powell broke his hand one night after making some big plays – a three, a steal and a dunk – down the stretch of a win in Cleveland on Thursday. But the Raps haven’t lost much in turning to Serge Ibaka (who has shot 62% over the last seven games) or Terence Davis (who scored a career-high 31 points on Sunday). Ibaka’s revival under Nick Nurse is just as amazing as Davis’ emergence as a contributor for one of the best teams in the league after going undrafted.
Only two of the 11 wins on the streak have come against teams with winning records, so a home-and-home with the Pacers this weeks is a good test. Indiana won the first meeting in overtime.
NBA Power Rankings Week 16- Raptors, Blazers climb as Jazz fall – ESPN
3. Toronto Raptors
Record: 36-14
Week 15 ranking: 5The Raptors have won 11 straight games and jumped to the second seed in the Eastern Conference with the third-best record in the NBA. They lost Norman Powell to a hand fracture on Friday; Powell has been a key player who averaged 17.5 PPG in the 11 games he played since his previous injury. But the team has been nigh unbeatable since the return of Pascal Siakam, who won his second Eastern Conference Player of the Week award of the season. — Snellings
The Athletic’s NBA Power Rankings Week 15: It’s trade season, let’s get crazy – The Athletic
3. Toronto Raptors (Previously 3rd), 36-14 (+6.7 net rating)
Buy or sell? I will hesitantly say buy here. While I fully believe in Masai Ujiri to use his executive genius however it needs to be used when it comes to creating cap space, I’m a little hesitant about any move that could impact their long-term plan. That plan is trying to sign Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021. I think most trades they could make right now would probably end up taking on money in some form past the 2021 summer. Ujiri can still easily move that money elsewhere whenever they need him to, but the Raptors are in a great position to get back to the NBA Finals. The Bucks are the only team definitely in their way, and everybody else feels like a hypothetical.
One hypothetical move is them acquiring Dewayne Dedmon for some big man depth. Marc Gasol has been in and out of the lineup throughout the season, and the Raptors just don’t have a lot of options with their interior if someone goes down for an extended period. There would be several ways to go about this. They could move Norman Powell to Sacramento for Dedmon. Powell is having a fantastic season, but has dealt with a lot of injuries, including a fractured finger most recently. Raptors fans probably wouldn’t love this deal initially, but they have the depth on the wings to replace Powell. Also, Powell might pick up a player option that impacts the 2021 summer cap space while Dedmon is just $1 million guaranteed. Or the Raptors could throw a second-round pick with a combination of Patrick McCaw, Stanley Johnson and Dewan Hernandez for Dedmon. But that’s just my idea for getting them depth inside.
3 Toronto Raptors
Talk about scorching hot. The Raptors easily handled four inferior opponents this week to run their win streak to a franchise-record-tying 11 games. The offensive distribution has been incredible, with seven players averaging double-figures over the streak, including five over 16 points per game. They’ve had the third-best offensive rating and defensive rating in the NBA over the last 11 games, and now own the third-best record in the league.
Toronto Raptors: Will Fred VanVleet be an All-Star one day? – Hoops Habit
Making a case that VanVleet was snubbed from going to Chicago this year is difficult, especially with the likes of Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Zach LaVine missing out on the opportunity, perhaps undeservedly so. There’s no question, however, that VanVleet is starting to emerge as an elite player in the league.
The 25-year-old is averaging 17.9 points and 6.9 assists per game. Those are both career highs for the fourth-year guard out of Wichita State, who is a full-time starter for the first time in his career. VanVleet has also recorded six double-doubles this season, whereas he only had one in his entire career entering the 2019-20 campaign.
The improvement in VanVleet’s counting stats can be attributed to an increase in playing time, as he’s averaging a robust 35.9 minutes per game. But his field goal, free throw and three-point shooting percentages are all very close to his career marks, suggesting his level of play is sustainable regardless of how high his usage gets.
And it could get even higher shortly. While Lowry appears to be ageless, the truth is that his time as a star is going to begin fading, perhaps as soon as next season. VanVleet would then be tasked with stepping into the void as the leader of the backcourt and an undisputed top-two player for the Raptors.
VanVleet will be 26 years old by the time the 2021 All-Star Game rolls around next February. Among this year’s first-time All-Stars, only Rudy Gobert rivals that mark (he’s 27), while Siakam is 25 years old. By age alone, the odds will be stacked against VanVleet.
There’s also a real possibility VanVleet won’t be in Toronto next year. After signing a two-year extension in the summer of 2018, he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and could command a big contract. He has previously expressed a desire to remain in Toronto (h/t Sportsnet), but there’s only so much money to go around. Basketball is a business after all.
Photo credit: Frank Gunn
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